🚀 go-pugleaf

Richard Ronnback wrote: "...I must admit that I find Ole's metaphyscial argument that readers "sense it at some level" less convincing." 

It's not "metaphysical", it's physiological/psychological, and could be observed, recorded, and verified/falsified if one wanted to put together a properly controlled scientific study. (And I'm about as likely to put forth a metaphysical argument as, say, Richard Dawkins.<g>) 

re: "I used to work as a teacher in graphic design and the first thing I used to tell my students was: Don't listen to anyone telling you what's good or bad design. Trust your insticts and get your own opinion." 

I agree, for the most part. But instinct has to be informed by knowledge. If you know that readability is impaired by a certain combination of typesetting features (say, 6 point Helvetica all caps on a 48 pica measure), you need to make a decision: should you follow your instinct (which says that this formatting looks good in your design) or your knowledge and experience?  

You might very well decide to go with your instinct--but you should do so with the knowledge that the formatting you've chosen decreases the readability of the text. Knowledge of typesetting is just another factor in the design equation. 

Thanks, 

Ole